Are Saudi women in danger of weight gain?

As a woman, a personal trainer and a life coach, I was perturbed by the news coming out of Saudi Arabia:

Protected content

"RIYADH: The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs will close women’s unlicensed sports clubs in the Kingdom unless they are operated by medical organizations.........The General Presidency of Sport and Youth Welfare, which provides licenses to men’s sports clubs, does not do the same for women’s clubs.....

The ministry’s decision coincides with a recent statement by a Saudi scholar describing women who participate in sport as “shameless.” On his official website Abdulrahman Al-Barak, the scholar, wrote about the consequences of opening women’s sports clubs, saying the clubs would encourage women all over the Kingdom to leave their homes.

Similarly, in an interview with Al-Eqtisadiah television last year, Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh said: “Women should be housewives; there is no need for them to engage in sports. Such practices don’t serve society.”